There are remarkably few places that publish new short horror fiction nowadays — and there are also relatively few anthologies that don't have a rigid theme, like zombies or witchcraft. Enter editor Ellen Datlow, who used to edit stories for Omni and SciFiction, and now puts out a lot of our favorite anthologies.

The business of publishing is rapidly changing. It's always been hard to sell non-themed anthologies, but in today's publishing climate, it's especially difficult. This project is close to my heart, which is why I've decided to appeal to the public through Kickstarter in order to fund it. This is an experiment. Although I've donated to Kickstarter projects, I've never been involved with one before.

Fearful Symmetries will be an unthemed anthology of about 30 original stories from both veteran talent and new voices, and will be published by ChiZine Publications. I have a stable of writers whose work I love and who I regularly publish; writers like Laird Barron, Kaaron Warren, Elizabeth Hand, Lucius Shepard, Sarah Pinborough, Jeffrey Ford, Joe. R. Lansdale, and others. And while I intend to include writers like these, I also plan to have an open reading period, something I don't do often, to give a chance to new talent that I may not be aware of.

While I love editing themed anthologies, there's something especially challenging and fun molding an anthology with fewer boundaries. The contributors will not be constrained by thematic chains but can write the stories they've always wanted to and perhaps couldn't because there was no venue for them.

This is definitely a project worth supporting, if you love great short fiction and especially new and innovative horror. [Kickstarter]